Gundam 00: The Wing Campaign
by The Blizzard Alchemist
Summary: A strange accident leaves the Gundam Pilots from Wing in the AD universe at the formation of the A-LAWS. Seeing strange similarities, they choose to act. What will happen when they encounter the remnants of Celestial Being. 00/Wing Crossover
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** The idea of crossing over Gundam Wing and 00 has actually been a plot-bunny that I've kicked around since the start of the second season of 00. Lately, said plot bunny has wound up having big sharp pointy teeth. It started, as it often does, with a simple question: if I were to remake the five Gundams from Wing using 00 technology how would I do it? At least for me, 00 was the spiritual successor to Gundam Wing. Both involved dropping pretty boys to Earth in machines that were vastly superior to any technology that was available to the other side in an attempt to stop war. Enough was changed that 00 is not a direct rip-off of Wing, but it's fair to say that they share similarities in the same vein that Gundam SEED was similar to the original MSG. At least 00 didn't take the machines name for name (I'm looking at you GINN, ZAKU, GOUF)

So without further ado, let's let the fun begin.

* * *

><p>[AD 2312]<p>

Marina Ismail shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her seat. She was a skilled politician and had kept her poverty and violence stricken country together these four years. She had needed to make several choices that had been unsavory to her people to keep them alive. The young man in front of her was one of those choices.

"Assalamu alaikum." The young man began with, bowing before taking the seat that she offered to him, extending her hand. "It is good to see you again Princess Ismail."

It was always somewhat unexpected to be greeted in the same manner as he would other dignitaries in the region. He had explained to her that his father had been a follower of the word of prophet, and had raised him as a Muslim.

"I wish that I could say the exact same to you Mr. Winner." Marina did her best to keep her tone level. If the young man seemed snubbed, he chose not to show it, continuing with a serene expression. He gratefully accepted a cup of tea one of the servants poured, holding it close to his lips. It suddenly dawned upon her that throughout all of their meetings, he never took a sip before she did. It was a curious thought. "The Earth Sphere Federation is once again demanding that we allow them to search your facilities. If they choose to force our hand, my control over this country will be lost. And then there was the way that your men have been dealing with civilians."

Rather than seem offended, Winner gave an apologetic smile. "I truly am sorry about that Princess. But we have the lives of our employees to worry about, who are your own people. We promised that we would bring you safe, clean nuclear power, but if a single misguided individual was to bypass our security and overload the reactor we would have a disaster. We take attacks such as that very seriously."

Winner took a log sip of his tea before continuing. "Furthermore, you are under no obligation to acquiesce to any demands of the Federation. They have not offered Azadistan a position as a member state and have isolated it from the world by spraying GN particles across the entire region. Due to our extranational status, we are the only ones providing lifelines to the outside world, along with stabilizing your economy. Azadistan does not need to rely upon any other nations Orbital Pillar to survive. All we have asked in return is the right to sell our power to you at a reasonable rate and to allow our research and development lab to remain top secret. Surely, we have proven ourselves useful in spite of all the trouble?"

It was a cheerful question, but it accurately described the difficulty: The Winner Foundation provided work, energy and some degree of independence to Azadistan. While they were distrusted by the moderates and downright hated by traditionalists the Foundation offered a chance to the most desperate and refused to give in after repeated attacks on their facilities. Their men were extremely competent, if a bit eccentric and fully willing to use lethal force when threatened. People had commented that their compound's security was superior to that of the palace.

They were also vital to the economy.

"So you wouldn't know anything at all about their claims that the parts to make an artificial GN drive are being shipped into the country."

There it was, the slightest furrowing of the brow. It was gone a moment later, skillfully hidden by years of practice at statecraft. Practice that she had at least as much with, gained swiftly in recent years where she had needed to walk the razor's edge when dealing with the new super-government which had formed around her small country.

Winner slowly set his teacup back into the saucer. "Princess Ismail…I believe you had the chance to see a Gundam in action, yes?"

"I don't know how this is relev-"

"Please." There was a pleading tone in Winner's voice. "I promise the question has a point."

Marina opened her mouth, paused and then shut it wordlessly, offering a simple nod.

"As best as we are able to tell, the original four Gundams were able to run without ever needing to visibly recharge. Now, this may have been a case of cleverly hiding their resupply points, but that would not explain their ability to continue operations over the course of 15 hours battle in the Taklamakan desert. The Federation has not even begun to approach that…which leads me to believe that they have discovered a perpetual motion machine, or something approaching it."

"A…perpetual motion machine?" It was Marina's turn to be caught off guard. "I don't think I've ever heard of that."

Winner gave a gentle smile, apparently feeling more comfortable as he settled into a more advantageous position once again. "It was very commonly sought after in the 19th century. People believed that they could make systems that produced more energy than they put in. In reality, we can only create something which seems to work that way: solar panels or systems that use the tides to turn turbines. If we could figure out what those drives would consume-"

"We'd make a fortune." Marina's eyes suddenly shot up to Mr. Winner's bodyguard who had been standing away from the main door; discreetly out of the discussion but still close enough to act. She had heard rumors of this one, stories of what had happened when someone had chosen to make an assassination attempt on Winner. "But sadly not without making a few enemies. Quat, we've got company."

Winner scowled. "They must have been watching the palace and figured that they could kill two birds with one stone. Princess, I would recommend that you get down behind the couch with me." Winner immediately got down to the floor, obscuring his position.

"Mr. Winner, there's no need to be worried. I do have guards of my own." As Marina finished speaking the sound of gunshots rang out in the hallway.

"That's a three round burst. Federation." The bodyguard twisted his head, a long braid coming loose as he pulled a pistol from a holster. "This is going to suck."

The door burst open, soldiers with rifles pointing at her. "Marina Ismail and Quatre Rebabba Winner: you are both wanted for questioning by the Earth Sphere Federation. Stand down immediately!"

The bodyguard was already moving, even as Winner let out a strangled cry of "Duo!" The soldiers had been expecting the majority of resistance to be outside of the room and couldn't randomly shoot without the risk of damaging their targets.

Duo's angle away from the door gave him a split second advantage when it came time to react. _Amateurs. Didn't even bother with a gas grenade or a flashbang._ The first man into the room went down like a sack of bricks. Handguns never had the preternatural accuracy that they seemed to possess in movies but that didn't mean that a trained shot like Duo easily missed at a range like this. The second was a bit quicker than his friend and, taking Quatre's shot as a warning turned to aim his gun at Duo before Duo had the chance to line up a clean shot. _Yep…definitely going to suck. How they hell did things wind up like this?_

* * *

><p>[AC Timeline]<p>

"What do you mean, "No contact"?" Duo slammed his hands down on the table. "Come on, four Preventers don't just vanish for a month without something being a big deal."

Lady Une shut her eyes. This had not been a discussion that she had been looking forward too. "What it means is that they are out of contact. It could be that they've had an equipment malfunction. It could mean that they are in a situation is too dangerous to risk a message." The possibility of capture and death went unsaid, but remained in the forefront of everybody's mind.

"What are the specifics Commander Une?" Heero asked neutrally, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

Une inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Duo Maxwell could be a handful, especially if his friends were in danger, but Heero Yuy was a consummate professional and could be counted on to be a voice of reason.

"In the months before the Barton Foundation prepared their invasion, there were a number of sites that had suspicious activity. In this case, we registered a power spike at an abandoned natural resource satellite at L4. With our forces spread so thin, and no solid leads we focused on where we suspected weapon shipments to be headed. There were never any signs of shipments, so it dropped in priority. After the invasion, we had our hands full and all signs of activity ceased. We suspected that it had been a Barton outpost abandoned after the failed invasion. Once again, we wrote it off. However, about two months ago the power spiked once again after years of inactivity, and the facility seemed to be active once more."

"And that's when you asked Quatre, Trowa and Wufei to snoop around for you?" Duo snarled, still upset from the news.

"Wufei and Colonel Po were ordered to go." Une responded carefully. "I recommended that he consult Quatre because of his familiarity with the area…"

"And Quatre would not turn down a friend in need." Heero finished. "And Trowa would never allow Quatre to go anywhere dangerous without him. While you did not order all of them to go, you certainly manipulated them all so that they would. So tell me, what warrants sending three Gundam pilots?"

Une have Heero a guilty look. "It's scary how much better at this you've gotten." Une sat back and let out a long sigh. "The location was where we found Instructor H back when OZ was hunting the Gundam Engineers."

A look of understanding dawned on Duo's face. "Which means no one knows what a team would find there. Tech specs on a Gundam?"

Une nodded. "Or maybe just Quatre's name. If it became known he was a Gundam pilot, we could have a revolt in L4 on our hands. And if someone got it into their heads that he should simply vanish…or could be _persuaded_ to talk about the others…" Une let the words hang in the air. "I judged that discretion would be wise in this case. And why I should send you and Yuy. Trust me; coming up next is the entirety of the Maganac. To find Quatre they would tear that satellite to shreds…"

* * *

><p>[A.D. Timeline]<p>

"Shots fired! Shots fired!" The second ESF team swarmed into the room. Crumpled on the floor in the corner was a figure in black a gun just out of reach.

"Stand down!" The survivor of the first group called out. "Hostile has been neutralized. The packages are ready for delivery."

Their targets, arms dealer Quatre Rebabba Winner and suspected Celestial Being had surrendered, dropping to their knees with their hands behind their heads. The second team relaxed, pointing their weapons down and slowly walking over to subdue the prisoner.

"There were others too who ran for backup." The surviving soldier mentioned. "We just need to-"The surviving soldier suddenly turned, releasing a pair of bursts from his rifle into the chests of the second team. The ambushed soldiers barely had time to make a sound before they were cut down.

Marina made a small sound as she watched the bodies dropped. She was familiar with violence, but it had never been as close as this.

"Excellent work Rashid." Quatre offered the man a smile. "I was worried there for a moment before I knew it was you."

"You're telling me." Duo grimaced as he sat up, rubbing arm. "I appreciate just grazing me, but that still stings like a bitch." Duo looked back over at Marina. "Sorry about the language princess, but we're kind of on a deadline."

"People…people are shooting at me." Marina gasped, tears welling in her eyes.

Rashid bowed for a moment. "I'm sorry Master Quatre, but we need to get moving. The Maganac has prepared an escort for yours and Master Duo's escape."

"Thank you Rashid." Quatre's smile turned somewhat sour. "But I think that I will have to decline."

"But Master Quatre, if we don't they will certainly take you! Duo and I can get you out!"

"Ahh…but can you get her out as a well?" Quatre gestured toward Marina. "You can't fight or sneak your way out with both of us, and if you just take me they will certainly hang all of the blame on her. And then, what about the remaining three machines? Could you get them out in time?"

Rashid paused. "No, we couldn't…are you sure?"

Quatre nodded. "I'm sure. Duo?"

"Yeah Quat?" Duo pulled himself to his feet, pulling gear off of one of the deceased soldiers, disguising himself.

"I think _shinigami_ needs to make an appearance." Marina noticed that Quatre's smile never stopped while he spoke, but had finished the transformation from delighted to grim. She didn't recognize the word, yet it filled her with a sense of dread.

Duo paused halfway putting on his gear. "Are you sure?"

Quatre nodded solemnly. "Yes."

A grin started against the edge of Duo's lips, curling practically from ear to ear. Unlike the casual one that Marina had always seen him wear, there was no mistaking the predator in that smile. It was a smile that was all teeth and no joy. "It's time to put on a show."

Duo quickly finished putting on the gear, running down the hallway with Rashid. Quatre sank back to his knees as the sound of shouting grew closer. "_Maktub_." It was a word that Marina recognized.

Roughly translated: "It is written."

* * *

><p>[AC Timeline]<p>

"Ok, 'Ro, this has officially crossed over the line to creepy." Duo looked over at his partner who, as usual, was hitting quietly in the chair in his shuttle. Upon entering the resource satellite's hanger they had found a Preventer shuttle, strikingly similar to their own, docked in place. "I mean, there power is still on. They kept life support active. It doesn't look like they left it in place for any long term storage…"

"And yet it's been running for a month." Heero looked back at his partner, his monotone never wavering. "It also tells us something very important."

"Oh?" Duo offered a puzzled look.

"It means no one has come to turn it off."

[A.D. Timeline]

The ride back to the compound was tense. This was, in part, due to the large number of roadblocks set up throughout the city but when you drove in a car with the A-LAWS symbol emblazoned on the side, that tended to deter a lot of questions. But for Rashid, the most disconcerting part of the drive was Duo.

He wouldn't stop smiling.

That was one of the most wonderful and terrifying things about the Gundam pilots: they had been made for war. Even Master Quatre, who hated war, transformed from the quiet diplomat and became the Desert Prince, who was as calculating and brutal as he was charismatic.

In Duo's case….

"Open the gate." Rashid called into his radio as they approached the Winner compound. The building itself had been placed next to an older nuclear power plant, which had been partially built in years past, only to be torn down. The plant had already been seized, shiny new mobile suits glinting in the sun as red GN particles sparkled in the air. Quatre's compound, though spacious and of a suspected terrorist, did not rate anywhere near the priority as the royal palace or a nuclear power plant and up to this point seemed to be left alone apart from a few deep gouges left from beam scars.

A large steel gate slid open as the uncovered jeep pulled through. Duo and Rashid raced inside, running to the basement.

"Ahmad, what is the status of the shuttles?" Rashid asked impatiently, his head on a swivel, as if he expected an attack at any moment.

"The four are loaded and ready to go." The mustachioed man replied. "They're running hot and the crews are in place to launch. Where's Master Quatre?"

Rashid said nothing for a moment, a guilty look betraying the anger and worry he was doing his best to hide. "There's been a change of plans. Can we fit everyone in three shuttles?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Ahmad offered a confused look. "But what happened to Maste-"

"We'll the launching the 02." Rashid talked over his subordinate. "_Shinigami_ will be going out before us."

Ahmad blanched, slowly turning to look at Duo. "Oh my…it went that badly, did it?"

* * *

><p>[AC Timeline]<p>

Sometimes, nothing is the scariest thing of all.

When you are expected something to pop around the corner at every moment, the sight of nothing running out to meet you, no alarms blaring can simply mean that the alarms are silent and the people preparing a trap for you have the advantage of knowing exactly where you are.

It also meant that Duo needed to be absolutely silent for half an hour.

Heero counted his blessings.

The resource satellite, as best they were able to tell, had no signs of life: no recent footprints in the dust, no clatter, no food. Nothing would signify that anyone would be there at all except for the fact that the power was on.

"It's like the Mary Celeste." Duo groaned as they made their way into the control room.

Heero chose not to comment, instead sitting down at the computer terminal and began rapidly typing.

"Uh…'Ro? I just made a witty remark. Would you like to comment on it?"

"Someone checked the docking activity and expense reports about a month ago." Heero intoned, ignoring Duo. "Some minor activity a few years ago. Nothing a decade before that…" Heero paused. "There's a program." The hacker turned back toward Duo. "At the end of each long gap of inactivity, someone ran the exact same program. Also…a month ago."

Duo paused, his mouth hanging agape for a moment before shutting it. "Well there's only one way to find out."

Heero said nothing, but after a few long seconds nodded and entered a few keystrokes. Alarms began to blare as a steel doorway at the end of the hall whined in protest as it began to slide open. A brilliant blue light filled the hallway as the gap grew wider, filling the room.

"Hey Heero, what's th-"

* * *

><p>[AD Timeline]<p>

The first sign that anything was wrong for A-LAWS Commander Briggs was a brilliant flash of red light out of the corner of his eye.

"Stow that! We don't need anyone hitting the wrong thing and making us ground zero for the next Chernobyl."

"Sir?" A nervous voice called back. "None of us fired."

"Then who-"

Briggs turned only to be greeted by the sight of a GNX-III, commonly referred to as he "Jinx" by most frontline pilots, standing with a hole through the cockpit. The strike had been placed to take out the pilot and GN Drive in one shot, silently killing one of his men.

"There's someone here!" Briggs raised his Ahead's lance, eyes furiously looking over his sensors. How the hell had the bastard gotten so close? His question was answered seconds later when another Jinx fell, sliced diagonally with a flash of gold.

"At Five's position! Saturation doctrine!" The three remaining Jinx backed off, firing at the position of their fallen comrade. It was hard to hit an unseen opponent, but even from this range even seemed to be more blurred. The focus became clearer as crimson GN particles clashed off the figure. The blur disappeared entirely seconds later, replaced by a glow which all veterans of the Celestial Being campaign could remember as a GN field. The machine was black and gray, with what looked like a set of heavy armor protecting the torso. In its hand clutched a long beam scythe, the blade glinting gold.

"He's a beam user. Release the gas!"

It was a command that was easier said than done. All GNX-III and Ahead models carried canisters of anti-beam gas specifically in case of situations like this, but fumbling for the canister left a moment when you were vulnerable, your attention distracted. Most simulations had been against old Flag or Enact models, not a high speed GN machine. It took only a few seconds to deploy the gas, but a few seconds was all that the black machine needed. What looked like an extra cloak of armor flew open, becoming a pair of bat-like wings. The black machine grabbed the center of the handle as a second beam arched in the opposite direction. The black machine twisted, becoming a whirlwind of destruction as the final three Jinx fell to the ground in pieces, secondary explosions rocking them as the machine died.

"You bastard!" Briggs roared, raising his lance for a charge. The gas had spread now, causing the enemy's weapon to flicker and fade. The pilot seemed to realize this, moving backwards for a moment as Briggs charged. Briggs could see an arm go up, and suddenly there was something flying at his face. Out of reflex he brought his lance up, batting it to the side. It took him a moment to realize that the enemy's shield was now gone.

"Nice party trick." Briggs grinned wickedly, readying his lance for another charge. "But now you're out of th-"

His words were cut off as warning alarms screeched about damage to his rear. His Ahead shook as the cockpit was breached and the GN Drive overloaded.

* * *

><p>Duo walked over slowly to the last of the downed machines, pulling his Buster Shield out of the back of the enemy machine. "We have a new model of mobile suit Rashid. Be sure to tell the others when you get there."<p>

"Got it." Rashid's voice crackled over the speakers. "Are you alright for being the distraction?"

Duo grinned, a hint of his old humor back in his eyes. "Oh, why not? The new 'Scythe runs like a dream and it seems as good a time as any to announce that we're here.

Duo brought his new Gundam into the sky, positioning himself above the raging city. Toggling the controls, the black wings billowed red GN particles, pumping them into the air as they swept across the desert landscape. People in the city below watched in terror as a pair of crimson wings shot out into the sky. Moments later, the power in most of the city flickered off, and the ground forces of the ESF found themselves with a city in chaos.

Amidst all that, no one noticed three shuttles disappearing into space.

* * *

><p>[A.D. Timeline, 2310]<p>

"-at" Duo finished as the light faded, and the two found themselves in a completely different place that before.

"So…" The pair turned to see Quatre, sitting calmly at a desk. "You finally decided to come."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: You know, I'm actually quite happy with the response that I've gotten with my first chapter. Especially considering that, you know, it was a first chapter. This one is going to be more expository, which is somewhat unfortunate, but this way it's mostly over and done with and I can start getting back to the action without having to explain (too much) how things have gotten to where they are.

Worth mentioning is the fact that my chapters are not usually this long. I plan to start writing shorter chapters, but this would (hopefully) allow me to keep posting at roughly the same posting schedule that I am on now. We'll see about that.

* * *

><p><strong>Gundam 00: The Wing Campaign<strong>

**Chapter 2**

* * *

><p>[AD 2310]<p>

"Finally decided to come?" Duo sputtered. "Where? How?" His eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. Duo's voice dropped. "We're in a different place."

Heero said nothing, but his eyes were shooting back and forth, his muscles taut and ready to react at a moment's notice.

Quatre let out a small laugh. "It's ok, you're among friends. I remember how you feel when you first find yourself here. Don't worry, we'll explain everything soon, I promise. We've been expecting you for a couple of months now."

"A couple of months?" Heero raised an eyebrow. "You've been gone for less than a month. We were recalled by Une a few days after you vanished."

Quatre winced slightly. "Right, I forgot. Time flows differently over here. Wufei, Trowa and I have been here for about ten months.

"Ten months?" Duo continued to sputter. "Let me repeat the question: Where the hell are we?"

Quatre slowly stood up. "It will be easier and quicker if I just take you to them. Follow me."

According to Quatre they were at a resource satellite, similar to the one they had left. Unlike that one however, it was bustling with activity. People that neither Duo nor Heero recognized walked past them and there was the sound of heavy machinery at work.

"Well, here we are." Quatre knocked on the door. "Doctor. You have visitors."

"Doctor?" In spite of his rigid discipline, Heero was unable to hide he lurch in his stomach. Did Quatre mean…

The door panel slid open. "Well hello 01. Here to see me off, are you?"

* * *

><p>[AD 2311]<p>

Ribbons Almark played the footage from the salvaged battle recorders once again. "Rewind." He ordered. A Jinx came back together on the screen, reforming itself as a scythe retracted itself and the black mobile suit backed up. "Play." The black machine darted forward again at shocking speed, repeating the attack.

Ribbons sat back on his couch, brow furrowed in thought. He was in his position of strength because he knew things. Veda had offered him a treasure trove about the movement of nations, GN technology and, most importantly, Aeolia's plan. With this knowledge, he had built himself and his Innovators into controlling the Earth Sphere Federation for all intents and purposes. The downside to this was that when you built your position by knowing everything, **not** knowing something could be deadly. And he had absolutely no idea who was responsible for this.

He had read the report the A-LAWS had made after the operation, which tried very hard to gloss over the fact that an enemy Gundam had annihilated one of their mobile suit squadrons. It was true that they had captured their targets, but Marina Ismail was worthless. It was an arrest made to make the new A-LAWS look good, to show that they were following up on every lead while providing a scapegoat in case something went wrong. Perhaps they would get a rise of some sort out of Celestial Being, but Ribbons couldn't count on that. The capture of the elusive businessman was much more promising, as it could possibly shed light on what exactly had happened.

Azadistan was in chaos. While the ESF military had taken the utmost care when placing their attacks around a nuclear power plant the capital city was now completely without power. An inspection of the plant had yielded no sign of fissionable materials. All power had been routed from the compound next door, where they had found four suspicious hookups in the floor.

GN Drive hookups. Ribbons could recognize them from the schematics of the Ptolemios. He had implemented them in the Baikal-class ship, but the effect was the reverse. The power supply of those ships powered the GN Tau drives. In this case, it seemed that the opposite was true.

That was the curious part. There was no denying that the machine that had been deployed did not use a true GN Drive. Analysis of particle composition had alerted him to that much. But if that was the case, how could four GN Tau drives power a city for any length of time?

"So, found yourself a troublesome problem?" Ribbons turned to the smirking face of Regene, one of the many Innovators he had awoken. Regene was troublesomely independent, but certainly had his uses, not the least of which was the insight it gave to his twin, the Gundam Meister Tieria Erde. "I took a quick look. Enough drives to power a city then?"

"A third world city."

"And that still eats you up inside, doesn't it?" Regene leaned over Ribbon's shoulder, smirking growing wider.

Ribbon's mentally synched with the computer, turning it off without moving a muscle. "I do believe that Mister Winner needs to experience our hospitality a bit more. It'll be there that we'll find the answers.

* * *

><p>"You're supposed to be dead old man!" Duo was surprised to hear that much emotion in Heero's voice as he drew a pistol, leveling it against the man in front of him. But there were few people who would evoke such a response from Heero, and the man in front of him was certainly one of them.<p>

"I am a great number of things 01." Doctor J, genius Gundam designer, revolutionary and defector from the Barton foundation returned. "Dead is not one of them." The man let out a cough, the reflex shaking his body. Heero hadn't noticed before, but J looked…older. Not that the Doctor had been anywhere near young the last time they met, but then he still had hair. Most strangely, Duo could have sworn that one of J's arms had been a prosthetic. He was thinner now too, and the coughing fit lasted almost a minute. "At least not yet. The medicine here is leaps and bounds over what it was back home, but even they have limits on how long one can preserve a life."

Duo looked over nervously at Heero, who still hadn't lowered his weapon. "I think the real question is, "Where is here?"

Heero cocked the hammer of his pistol. "No, I think the question is, "How are you still alive?"

J let out a sigh. "To tell you the truth, I don't know myself. All of us expected to die when we blew up Peacemillion. We were all ready to die. But when I woke up, we had been taken in by a ship who had found us drifting."

"We?" Heero choked. "All of you?"

"No." J let out another cough. "G survived as well. He's the one who found me in the ship's sick bay and helped get me out of there. In the chaos after the battle, no one missed us. I don't know how we got there. Maybe they assumed we were White Fang survivors who had gotten lucky. After that we ran here. H had told us all about it, and we planned to rendezvous there in case of emergency. G and I tried to communicate with the others for months but we never heard anything. We just heard…other thing. Rumors. Dekim Barton."

J let out another short cough. "G and I are hardly his favorite people. If he found us he would kill us. Or worse, force us to create new monstrosities in his name. And so, we ran to the one place where we were certain that he couldn't find us: here."

Duo cocked his head to the side. "Ok, I can buy that. Just one problem: where is here?"

J fidgeted in his seat. "Well, for that we have to go back a ways."

* * *

><p>[AD 2311]<p>

Quatre found himself yanked upright, carried by two guards. He could feel his feet dragged across the ground. He had taken a hit to the head earlier during the interrogation and was still dazed. In spite of that he could still see the tub in front of him. Moments later he found himself doused in icy water, bubbles of air shooting past his lips as they dunked him. After what seemed like an eternity he was yanked up.

"Was there a question to that?"

The guard didn't seem to like that response and Quatre found his head shoved back underneath the water.

* * *

><p>[AD 2310]<p>

"It all began back when were still with OZ." J leaned back in his seat. Heero had put away his gun and was leaning against the wall while Duo sat eagerly in a seat, turned around so that he could rest his chin against the back. "Some forty…well for me I suppose. The time difference really does catch you off guard. You two barely seem a day older…"

"It begins with a protégé of ours: Aeolia Schenberg. He was a prodigy, and we all mentored him at time. The man was incredibly gifted. Perhaps he never completely eclipsed one of us in any one field, but he became shockingly good at each. I know I shared my theories that later led to the beam technology that was later adopted into OZ mobile suits, and after asking G I know he heard more than a few lectures on stealth technology. In fact…" J turned a baleful eye at Heero. "He did much of the code writing for the ZERO system, but abandoned it. He was naïve, even more than we were. I think that he was hurt more than any of us when Heero Yuy, the original pacifist was assassinated by the people we worked for. It was enough to begin planning Project METEOR. For Aeolia…he dropped off the map entirely."

"H heard from him a little while after that. He was looking for a laboratory where he could work. H had already made contact with Quatre and managed to find him a space in L4. At that time, we were in a communications blackout, so it wasn't a surprise when we didn't hear anything after that. We were all too busy working on our own projects to care. It wasn't until we were all brought together by OZ that I had heard his name."

"As I said before, G and I arrived here after the battle for Libra. Alone, without contact, we had abundant time to look over Aeolia's notes. What we found…" J let him voice trail off happily. "He eclipsed us all. He did something that would make the theoretical physicists of the last hundred years giddy. He found a way to open a door to an alternate universe."

"An alternate universe?" Duo snorted. "Ain't that science fiction?"

J guffawed. "Young man, you piloted a robotic weapon made of an alloy only capable of being forged in the plasma fires of outer space. The Gundams were science fiction up until they were dropped on Earth. Now where was I…?"

"Right! An alternate universe. I didn't have enough time to fully analyze what he had done, only that it would take an immense power source to operate it. At that moment, we were expecting Dekim to bust down our door any day. We didn't think there would be any option. After a few experimental attempts, we managed to get the system powered. Aeolia had hidden it behind those blast doors and we found ourselves transported. To here." J gestured around. "As best we are able to tell, the connection is unstable unless you have a place to receive the signal. After taking some time to study it, it would appear that Aeolia had expected someone else to come through. Perhaps he was looking for a way back…but we'll never know. He was long dead by the time that we came through."

"The time delay." Heero responded, back into the low monotone of the Perfect Solider. "You mentioned it before. Time flows at an accelerated pace here?"

J nodded. "It's fascinating. By the time we arrived over two hundred years had passed. The change in the time stream isn't the only difference. Their medical technology is light years ahead of ours. They were able to regrow my arm. My arm!" J waved the new appendage. "But their engineering was far behind. After a few nasty accidents with nuclear power, it became a taboo. Rather than continue with the technology that would eventually lead to our fusion reactors nuclear technology withered on the vine. For a long time, the planet was relying on fossil fuels until Aeolia came up with a solution."

"Now, to us the idea of an orbital elevator, a structure that ferries materials via an elevator between the surface to space is a novel, but inefficient way to enter space. With abundant, safe, nuclear power it was much more efficient for us to place colonies at Lagrange points. Without it, they could not go as far but Aeolia counteracted his by making the structure capable of collecting solar power. Enough of it to effectively power the planet." J paused. "He probably thought that it would be enough to stop war. Obviously, it wasn't. As long as there have been two men and a rock, one has always tried to club the other-"

"Are you going to keep rambling or get to the point?" Duo groaned, tapping his foot in boredom.

J shot the Gundam pilot an exceptionally potent glare from his metallic eye lenses. "I'm getting there 02. But the important part doesn't make sense unless I get it all."

"There was a ship here for G and I to take, which led us back to Earth. With some creative work, we managed to create new identities for ourselves. We began work an engineers, learning how to work with the materials we had. We planned to spend the rest of our lives tinkering. That was…" J pulled out a laptop, which seemed impossibly slim. Moment later a flat screen in the room came to life, showing a spindly looking machine showing off.

"Umm, Doc? Is it me, or does that thing kind of remind you of an Aries?" Duo took a quick glance over at the doctor, whose eyes were still glued on the screen.

To J's credit, there was a small amount of guilt. "It's what G and I are good at. You should have seen what they were working with before we got there. Ugly, worthless things. And it was like knowing the workings of an internal combustion engine, and being put back in the days of steam. It-"

"That pilot is fairly skilled." Heero cut in. "But nothing special. Good mobility, but not much greater than a Taurus and not even approaching the firepower. What was it you were excited about?"

Heero's answer came a minute later when, from out of nowhere, a blue machine seemed to slice out of the sky, moving through the air with agility that he could only have dreamed of.

"That's…a Gundam!"

"Whoa." Duo whispered as he watched the blue machine promptly dismantle the machine in front of him.

J nodded. "Indeed. It seems that Aeolia had learned a few things after watching us design the Wing Zero. He created something, a combination of a powerplant and propulsion system that eclipsed anything that had been seen before, in our timeline on here. Four of these Gundams were released, set on wiping out anyone who instigated a conflict."

"His own Operation Meteor?" Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps. Aeolia released a recording made before his death once the Gundams appeared, declaring that his group "Celestial Being" would bring about the end of war. But the countries of the planet didn't much like having terms dictated by four machines. To make a very long story short, after it looked the Gundams were going to run the table the three Earth superpowers managed to get their hands on a knockoff of that powerplant. They united and used their new weapons. They weren't anywhere near as powerful, and had quite a few problems with operational time, but were able to fielded in greater numbers. The Gundams were defeated, and all but two were confirmed destroyed or captured."

"Oookaaayyyy." Duo spoke slowly. "That's interesting and all, but if the world in united and at peace, why the spiel?"

"This is why." J typed at his keyboard, bringing up a news headline. The screen proudly displayed a surprising title: "UN reformed into Earth Sphere Federation!"

"Earth. Sphere. Federation." Duo spoke slowly. "Not at all the same thing as the Earth Sphere **United Nations**. Next thing you'll tell me, they have their own OZ Specials."

J gave a grim smile. "Oh, they haven't announced it yet. But my sources within the old superpowers tell me that they have formed a group of elites. Officially their purpose is to help protect against the Gundams, but in order to do so, they have "special powers".

Duo made a face. "Oh, come on, you have to be shitting me. And no one sees what coming?"

"Hmmph. You should never underestimate mankind's ability to ignore what is going on right under their noses." J responded. "But there are a few for certain. Some groups on Earth are forming, but they are disorganized and have nowhere near the logistics to mount an effective resistance. Fortunately, we managed to have a stroke of luck. While G and I were poking around, we drew the attention of Celestial Being."

"I had been under the impression that they had been disbanded." Heero intoned, refusing to move a muscle as he continued to slouch against the wall.

"You know better than that 01." J chided. "An organization is hardly comprised of four people. It takes contacts and materials to build machines of war. We happened to encounter their support and reconnaissance division, while remaining invisible. To their credit, they managed to stay undetected this entire time. They are essentially the Sweepers, who work exclusively for Celestial Being."

"Nice!" Duo brightened considerably at the mention of the Sweepers. "They sound like my kind of people."

J raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I suppose you could say that. They had hit a bit of a rough patch themselves and took to the idea of having a new base of operations and someone willing to help build machines for them. We believe it was restoring power to this station is what brought the corresponding station in our timeline online. You can imagine our surprise when we suddenly had visitors. Truth be told, I think Fereshte was more excited when Quatre, Trowa and Wufei arrived than when we offered to build them Gundams. Their chief pilot was…something of a psychopath."

Quatre gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "He thought that threatening us would bring us into line. Trowa disagreed."

"And what happened to him?" Duo asked wryly.

"Trowa. Disagreed." Quatre smiled, as if the two words answered everything. They did.

* * *

><p>The base had fortunately been renovated to install a briefing room, hastily assembled over the past few months. The five Gundam pilots seated themselves around the table, with J and G taking a seat on either side. A white haired woman with a severe woman sat alone, unfamiliar.<p>

"Chall Acustica. The woman is Fereshte's representative." Wufei whispered an explanation.

Sally Po took a position of prominence at the table. She was purely a military officer at this moment, offering only a small smile of acknowledgement at the new arrivals.

"It's good to see you Duo, Heero." Po began. "We were hoping to have you here for this. Before we get started we need to resolve something. Are the Gundam pilots going to join in this fight?"

Chall's jaw dropped. "But…you promised."

"The good doctors promised." Wufei smirked slightly. "I believe that we have been decidedly silent about our own choice in the matter."

Sensing discomfort, Quatre leaned in. "What we mean to say, Commander Acustica, is that we have the right to choose to fight. And part of that is knowing exactly what we are getting ourselves into. This is especially true for Heero and Duo, who have just arrived."

"Exactly right." Po rounded on Chall. "I think you have to understand: we need to ask if this is a fight that we can win. From what we can tell, the Earth Sphere Federation outnumbers us tremendously. We cannot even say that we hold a tremendous technological advantage now that they have machines which, for a limited time, can match the power of your original Gundams."

"But-But the Gundams are rebuilding. Being upgraded!" Chall responded, still shocked by this turn of events.

"Even if you do that, are these new machines going to have the same dominance that they displayed when they first arrived?" Po questioned, not giving up. "The ESF now has GN technology, and they are constantly producing more models. How are nine machines going to stand against that, especially when, at most, Celestial being has only enough GN drives for five machines?"

Chall sat mouth agape for a moment before her eyes hardened and she turned to J. "I do believe that you were working on a solution for that weren't you Doctor?"

J coughed, offering more of a smile than Heero thought he was capable of. "It's true that I cannot make a true GN drive. However, thanks to a few of our contacts I managed to get the notes on the plans from some of the machines that the UN had at their disposal. The design is rather simple: electricity is used an input to spin a converter to generate GN particles, which are used by the machine for thrust, defense and beam weaponry. Newer models have condensers to hold these particles for periods of extended operation, but they are reliant upon a ship or facility to power them in order to operate in the field. They are unable to operate perpetually, but because no more true GN Drives are available they are lethal in numbers. Which brings us to…"

A holographic image splashed above the table, which Duo and Heero immediately backed away from, a look of shock and surprise on their face. "What the…" Duo whispered, his eyes widening.

"My design for an artificial GN Drive." J announced proudly. "The main concern has been the power input, which I do believe I have solved. The supply will be given by an ultracompact fusion reactor. This should be more than enough stable power to keep the machines operational at a level similar to the original Gundams for an almost unlimited period of time."

"Well that's…" Chall studied the diagram. "Sufficient I suppose."

"And that still doesn't completely tip the scales. But we now have to get to the heart of the matter: the ESF hasn't done anything bad yet. Yes, they look incredibly suspicious, but so far we may have to deal with the possibility that nothing will come of it." Po turned to look at the five pilots. "You would have to go to back to being the people you were at the dawn of Operator Meteor. You would have to do things that cost you all dearly in the past. But all of us need to decide together, right now, whether we want to make this sacrifice."

There was silence for a moment. Finally, to everyone's surprise it was Wufei who spoke.

"I agree that we don't have anything other than suspicions. But what if we're wrong? What do we lose by investigating, and preparing in case he worse comes to pass? If nothing happens, we can begin work on going home. But if we do nothing…"

"Then we're back to the Christmas Invasion." Duo gritted his teeth. "And we know what kind of a reaming that was. I don't care what ya' say 'Fei. Power corrupts, and I don't want to see what happened to the colonies happen here twenty years down the line happen because we didn't do squat."

"They've begun embargos on all non-member states." Quatre chimed in. "They're leaving no room for neutrality."

"I can't help but notice the similarities." Trowa leaned in, keeping closer to Quatre. "And I have no intention of just sitting on the sidelines."

There was a pause as all turned to Heero Yuy. The man, the boy closed his eyes. When he opened them, the Perfect Soldier was in his place. "Mission Accepted."

* * *

><p>[Celestial Being repair ship Euclides<span>;<span> later that day]

Chall Acustica sat frowning in her quarters. She had been dreading this update for the entirety of the trip back, and wanted to be sure that she was far enough away from her new partners for the message to be intercepted.

"Are you there Ian?" She finally spoke, bringing up the monitor. A few seconds later, the grizzled face of Celestial Being's chief engineer popped on the link.

"Chall!" Ian's face split into a grin. "How did your meeting with the new friends go?"

"Rocky. They seem willing to help, but they definitely seem to have their own agenda. Still, it's not like we have much of a choice. They have pilots willing to help us, and they have the resources and scientists who can build machines even stronger than the Thrones. If we try to break…"

"They might decide that they don't need us." Ian made a look of disgust. "And we can't let that happen until the Gundams return. Did you tell them how to make a GN Drive?"

Chall paused. "No. I don't think they need to know quite yet. But with their resources…we may be able to begin production of more. But that is going to take time. More time than we have, is the ESF shows any sign. Even if we get started now it will be a while before we can have more operational."

"Do you…" There was a pause. "Do you buy their story about another universe?"

"It does sound crazy. But they talk about event in passing that I've never heard of. They have advancement in nuclear physics which leaves us in the dust yet you should have seen how some of them jumped at holographs. It would explain a lot, like how Veda never discovered them. Of course, I wouldn't want you quoting me on that…"

"Hmmmm. You think they'll be able to be able to do anything at all?"

Chall flashed back to the display of the Doctor's design. "Oh, I think they will."

* * *

><p>[Author's Note 2]<p>

Yes, I'm playing a little fast and loose with the timeline. I am trying to realistically place Aeolia from a period that takes place over 25 years (give or take for AC) into almost ten times that (AD). To complicate things, I need the Gundam Engineers to spend a realistic amount of time developing and making new machines. It took Celestial Being four years to roll out the 4th generation Gundams, and that was when they already had people who worked on the machines before, with a preexisting infrastructure in place.

It is because of this that I decided to bring Fereshte in. For those of you who haven't read the sidestories, they aren't OC's (for the most part). They were disbanded after giving up the 0 Gundam's GN Drive so 00 could be developed, so I figured "why not use them?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok, I'm really sorry for the long delay. I won't even count the things which have changed in my life since my last post. This story has somehow been successful, and a lot of people have commented on it. I really wish I had done a better job updating, but I really am trying. The encouragement stopped me from quitting, so thanks to everyone who commented, favorite, and messaged me.**

* * *

><p>Under virtually any other circumstance, Duo would have been crowing with glee right now. Oh, how he had longed to feel the control sticks in his hands, to be one with his machine again. Gundam pilots had formed special bonds with their machines. Choosing to destroy them after the war had been one of the hardest decisions that they had needed to make, not just because of the worry that they might be needed again but because of how bonded each had become. Duo could remember shouting in agony as the original Deathscythe was led out into space, mined, and then blown up all live television. So finally being paired with this new machine should have been a dream.<p>

The Deathscythe Samael had certainly lived up to G's expectations. The man had been a stealth specialist back in their own time, and had taken to the new technological developments like a fish to water. G had practically had a stroke when he discovered that Chall had developed an optical camouflage system, but hadn't mentioned it because it was useless in battle. The system certainly had a few problems, such as only working long range and fading the moment a mobile suit tried to move, but to G had acted if he was trying to carve a sculpture with a spoon and someone had handed him a chisel.

The design was for the most part similar to the Deathscythe Hell: The main body based off a standard frame based on the second generation Gundam plans, with rounded shoulders and hooked feet as an aesthetic holdover from the original design. Due to the lack of any real facilities at a Lagrange point, it had been impossible to refine enough Gundanium in time to make five suits, so they had needed to stick with the GN-composite armor, which did not nearly hold up as well. Each suit was designed to handle the problem a different way, depending on their pilot's fighting style. In a way Duo had it easy. The active cloak had been upgraded using technology from this side. When down, it added another layer of armor and decreased the surface area for G's version of the optical camouflage. While system could not completely hide the Deathscythe while it moved, it certainly blurred the outline. Combined with the hyper-jammers it was nearly impossible for targeting computers to lock onto from a distance. Of course, this left the machine vulnerable, and after a few hits emitters would begin to fail. For cases when battle had started, the wings would slide open and GN Field emitters would activate, giving Duo the chance to absorb fire as he made his away to his preferred combat range. And, of course, he could disperse enough GN Particles that it knocked out communications and jammed sensors for miles around, helping to make a hasty retreat when necessary.

The weaponry hadn't changed all that much from the Deathscythe Hell, and that was the way that Duo liked it! He'd always liked being in the moment, and simple was for the most part better. There had been a reason why, when the scientists had been given the chance to upgrade the original Deathscythe, they had made few changes to his preexisting weapons. His trademark scythe now had a beam at each end. He had a far greater reach with just one active, but the second allowed his to choke up his grip and still have an effective way to parry. In fact, the biggest change was this shield, which had been programmed with this "Fang" system everyone is Celestial Being had been trying to replicate. The old men had already created components which could float on their own when they designed the Mercurius, and with GN particles they now had a better way to maneuver them, and therefore his Buster shield, which now had a controllable flight path.

In short, to reiterate, he _should_ have been deliriously happy right now. However…

"What the hell happened?" Duo screamed at the screen. He had finally gotten far enough away from his particle cloud to finally respond. The cover had been extremely helpful, but it had the side effect of knocking out his own communications along with any pursuers. An image of J crackled on the screen

"Celestial Being revealed itself again." J replied, clearly displeased as well. "Or rather, they got caught too soon."

Duo paused for a moment, turning his head to the side in confusion. "Eh?"

J continued to fume for a moment before continuing. "Katharon planned a revolt on colony. Did a piss poor job of it too and the A-LAWS were prepared. And it just so happened that it made enough of a stir to pull the last of the four Meisters out of hiding."

"Damn…" Duo whispered. Chall had filled them in the status of the Meister through her contact Ian. One had managed to rejoin Celestial Being and was working with them now, one was KIA, and two were missing. Now there was only one unaccounted for. "So what's the next step?"

J smiled. "We get our man back. Prepare to rendezvous with the others. And we've gotten some interesting news from Katharon a few hours ago. We've already deployed Heero, and he will join in the rescue operation. Stay cautious, we may need you soon."

* * *

><p>"Look, I can't tell you boys everything that's going to happen. The woman who they've been relying on for a plan has been kind of flaking out here." Lyle Dylandy felt a small twinge of guilt. Not a big one. Not enough of one to stop what he was doing. The last few days had been an enormous shock. He hadn't spoken to Neil in years, the rift between their paths growing as Neil hadn't been able to get over the death of their loved ones. For Lyle, that was in the past. It wasn't until the very real and ongoing problem of the ESF appeared that he chose to act.<p>

_I appreciate having the chance to pilot a Gundam. And we have the same enemies. But they're crazy if they think that I'm going to just stop being a member of Katharon because they let me into their little club._

"But they're going to be making an attempt?" Came the voice on the other line. "You're sure about that?"

"Please. They're so hot to get their comrade out there's nothing we could say or do to make them stop. Maybe it's a suicide run, but it's still our best chance to get our people out."

There was a pause on the other end. "You're completely right. Are you sure that the intel on the base layout and prisoners is accurate?"

Lyle shrugged. "They certainly seem to think so. It came from a Wang Louie…something. Now make sure you put it to good use. We won't get another shot like this."

"We certainly won't Jean-1." There was something odd in the tone. What was it…amusement? Couldn't be, this guy was a complete iceberg. "Chang out."

* * *

><p>"My my, those are far more ships than you planned to send beforehand, isn't it?" Regene curled around the top of the couch like a smug, contented cat as she looked over Ribbon's shoulder at the holographic screen which was floating in front of his face. "It was clever sending Wang Liu Mei that information, wasn't it? You just <em>knew<em> that the moment Celestial Being knew about the location of their comrade and the hidden princess they would come running. But why so many extra now?"

Ribbons turned his head, offering a half smile of his own. "That was when all we were drawing in were Celestial Being. There's a new wrinkle in the plan, isn't there. But I wouldn't be too worried." The leader of the Innovators shut his eyes, opening moments later with sparkling trails running through them as he interfaced with Veda. "We have many contingencies."

* * *

><p>[ESFF Detention Center for Anti-Government Elements]<p>

Colonel Kati Manneqiun was not happy. Not one bit. Her crew was fairly certain that it was the bubbly, undeniably enthusiastic and persistent Patrick Colasour, who had been nagging her almost non-stop throughout the entire trip, but in reality she was actually beginning to rub off on her. After working together for four years she had a fairly firm grasp on the man: he was egotistical, overconfident and dim witted…but was loyal, honest, an undeniably lucky.

No, the problem was not with Patrick, it was the culmination of events that was surrounding this deployment. She, like most of the survivors of Operation Angel Down, had been recruited to join the A-LAWS. What had surprised her was that the first duty was to go out in the middle of nowhere in HRL territory to guard a prison facility. But even then, she had been unprepared for the snafu which awaited her…using the original use of the military acronym. In theory, a Guyana-class ship and A-LAWS accompaniment supplementing a large ESFF base would have been more than enough to hold off anything short of a full scale invasion. But high command had sent _three_ Guyana, each with their own captain, and without a clear distinction in rank, their orders were coming from the prison warden, who was not particularly adept at tactics and had left them to squabble amongst themselves. Most A-LAWS had received their position by being incredibly competitive, and no one wanted to lose the glory. As such, getting people to come around to collaborate with her was like herding cats. In addition, there was disturbing news: the one captured Gundam pilot had been shipped off somewhere secret, the location at a classification level that would have made most spooks a mite uneasy. But apparently this secret was common knowledge to the A-LAWS, and he was being held at _this very base._ In addition, there was a rumor of a new Gundam sighted in Azadistan, but one unlike anything they had even seen or heard of before. Details were still few and far between, but there was no denying that a squadron of GNX-III had been eliminated in minutes, and it seemed as if no one had a clear issue of what it looked like, and there was a great deal of information where it was hard to tell where fact ended and fiction began.

In short, there was nothing but uncertainty. She had no idea of what the enemy was capable of, when they would be coming or where they would come from. As a tactical forecaster, these were things that drove her insane…especially when her own side was holding out on her.

Her reverie was cut short as alarms blared.

"Alert. Message from the Pillar observatory! It appears that we've detected a carrier class ship in the atmosphere!"

_Impossible. If their ship can function in the atmosphere… _

This was a wrinkle that she had never considered.

"This is an attack. All Mobile Suit forces deploy immediately!"

* * *

><p>In the upper atmosphere, the Ptolemios expanded the GN field around the ship, wrapping its superstructure around a blanket of sparkling GN particles. Inside, the crew of the ship prepared for launch, the 00, Cherudim and Seravee ready to deploy and the Arios on the catapault, ready and waiting to be launched as soon as they had a clear shot. Sumeragi Lee Noriega's plan was just beginning.<p>

GN particle beams strafed the buildings, striking the hanger first, immediately making the bulk of the garrison unusable for the defenders. The buildings shook and groaned as Soma Peries rushed into the hallway, only to watched stunned as the Celestial Being ship crashed into the water.

Water smashed against the base defenses with the ferocity of a natural disaster, specifically like a calculated storm surge from a hurricane. One could often forget the awesome force generated by an advancing wall of water, sweeping up those unlucky enough to be caught on foot. Pilots in outdated Teiran were slightly luckier, as the machines had been designed to protect pilots while accelerating in zero-G, but they lacked the maneuverability to avoid the sheer size of the massive wave.

Soma reached for her radio, scrambling to respond. "Command this is Lieutenant Peries! Ground defenses have been disabled. We need to-" She was cut off as she heard the sound of gunfire. She nodded to Andrei, the man she understood to be her beloved Colonel's biological son and both removed their sidearms from their holsters. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><em>An interesting trick<em>. In spite of herself, Kati Mannequin couldn't help but to appreciate the boldness of the maneuver, nor its effectiveness. _It would seem that Celestial Being has a skilled tactical forecaster of their own. Of course, we didn't get to where we were by being inept._

"The base defenses are in disarray! They will be upon us soon enough. Put top priority on scrambling our own forces." As if on cue, a frighteningly familiar blue machine darted forward, running into the base, only to be followed by the heavyset model described in some of the earlier tactical reports. "I want those GN-X out there now!" The smaller blue model moved to a hole in the wall, and the larger machine brought an immense dome shield to life.

_The pilot is getting out. He's going to rescue his comrade!_

"Peries, you have infantry inside the base incoming."

There was a pause for a moment before a quick hiss of the radio and gunshots in the background, punctuating Soma's deadpan words. **"Yes Colonel."**

At moments like this, Kati wondered if the girl had a sense of humor which no one had known about.

* * *

><p><em>They're good. <em>It was an odd thought to have in the middle of battle, but Soma couldn't help but make the observation. She had linked up with a large group, who was responding to what appeared to be a carefully time strike group. As part of the Supersoldier program, she had been forced to practice nearly all methods of warfare, and infantry tactics were no exception. Celestial Being was not known terribly well for their infantry and this group was working as a well coordinated machine to keep them at bay.

"**Peries, you have infantry inside the base incoming."**

"Yes Colonel." With all of the action around her, Soma couldn't afford to let herself be distracted by talking needlessly. There was a long pause on the other end, and there was another round of shaking. Finally, there came a response.

"**There is a Gundam Meister inside the base. The most likely objective will be his captured comrade."**

Soma felt a sudden stab in his stomach. Subject E-0057 had left her with doubts and worries that she hadn't been able to fully purge. They were the last two survivors after all, the only ones left. The thought of him escaping and having to fight him again was…disconcerting.

"Affirmative. I will go to the captured Gundam Meister's cell immediately."

"**Don't bother, I know exactly where he's going to go."**

* * *

><p>Kati looked on where a strikingly familiar orange machine had become embedded into the wall of the base. It would be almost certain that the enemy pilot would be heading there. Meanwhile, the scrambling GNX-III would be useful to try to bring down the shield of the current active Gundam. Unfortunately, the response was being delayed as fire was coming in from another source, what seemed to be the final member of the four Gundam complement. The GN-X and Ahead that were leaving the Guyana-class hangers were getting hit as they left, causing bottlenecks. Still, the extra ships were providing numbers, which were slowly turning the battle in their favor.<p>

"Squads Alpha and Beta, continue with fire on the stationary machine. Gamma, drop anti-beam gas grenades in front of the sniper's fire lane, Squad Delta, converge on the exposed enemy Gundam. Capture if possible, but do not allow it to be activated."

Kati listened to a round of "Yes ma'am" and sat back, relaxing for a brief moment. It was then that she spied the CIC's face, which had turned ashen. "What is it?"

"There's…something else." The man glanced down at the readings. "The Pillar Observatory didn't notice it, but something slipped in the wake of GN particles that ship was giving off."

"Something else?" Kati felt something grip her stomach. "What kind of "something else"?"

* * *

><p>The first thing survivors of the battle would remember about the new arrival was the streak of red in the sky. It was said, later, to look like a meteor falling from the heavens, burning red through the atmosphere. Put as it passed, the glowing sphere began to peel away and shatter, exposing something that was undeniably a mobile suit.<p>

But any reaction to this development was quickly dispelled by the sight in the sky. In the cockpit of the Seravee, which was currently tucked into a defensive position in front of the 00, Tieria Erde looked up with a sudden lurch in his stomach. The plan hadn't taken into account new enemy prototypes and there was no doubt that this was a new machine. It knifed through the air, pulling up after it had apparently assisted dropping the other machine into the midst of the scrum. Finally, as it broke into view the machine twisted in air, shifting. An almost birdlike nose split and became shield and massive gun. A head twisted around to what was now a decidedly humanoid torso, with a glowing green gem set into the center. But what was most striking was the wings. They appeared to be made of feathers, outlining the machine like an angel, but closer inspection would reveal that they were carefuly crafted E-carbon. From each top jutted a telltale spike of a GN Drive, and the machine pumped a scarlet cloud of particles into the clear sky, each with a connecting set of cables that ran into the cannon.

"Here it comes…" Tieria gritted his teeth, preparing to activate Trans-Am as he looked up as his new enemy.

_Can it hold?_ It was a rather pointless question. Once activated, Trans-Am would bleed the Seravee dry, and there was no way that the lumbering Seravee would be able to keep up with. _I guess this will make us even…Lockon. I'll be seeing you soon._

And then, impossibly, everything changed.

Dancing through the air, the new machine swung the monster of a gun at one of the Guyana. There was a slight delay as power built up (Tieria noted that it was much less than what it would have taken the Seravee) as the air _rippled._

And then there was light.

Golden light spilled out of the barrel, punching straight through the bridge of the closest Guyana and back out the other side. The airship shuddered and groaned, the superstructure struggling valiantly to hold before utterly failing. GN drives could only provide so much additional thrust, and with the core of the ship gone, the stress at both ends rent the ship apart, particles spilling in haphazard gusts.

Kati Mannequin felt her eyes bulge out of their sockets. She hesitated for half a second, the shock enough to shock even a hardened veteran. It was as if she was suddenly back to the first days following the reveal of Schenberg's plan, faced with an unknown force with devastating capabilities…but she had faced that before. She now knew what to do.

"All Ahead forces, focus on the new Gundam. He _**cannot**_ be allowed to fire again, or we will lose all air support. Direct the anti-beam grenades on its location and engage with your lances. Ground crews, begin searching for survivors!"

"**Yes ma'am!"** Came the reply as her Ahead squadron diverted their harrying action on the heavy ground based Gundam and instead focused on the new arrival. Earlier reports had said that the maneuverability of the Ahead, combined with its solid state weapons and the anti-beam gas had been enough to match the Exia. Kati was confident that deprived of its main weapon, it would now be vulnerable. The lead Ahead charged in, looking to make quick work of the newcomer. The winged machine holstered its rifle and seemed to…sidestep, a second before it seemed possible, and it pulled out a beam saber from an arm holster, swinging it down on the extended arm. Even weakened, the saber had enough energy to cripple the arm.

Kati frowned. _Maybe this wont be as easy as I thought._

The feathers in the wings split free, leaving trails of particles, sending a burst into the formation of the Ahead, forcing them to scatter.

_Definitely not as easy._

* * *

><p>Setsuna did his best to appear calm, to quiet the thoughts that were racing through his head. Fear was not fitting for a Gundam Meister, for a soldier. He couldn't afford that now, not when the safety of his comrades was tantamount. Not when he was doing something something, perhaps the first thing he could remember in a long time, that wasn't part of his mission. He had made sure that Alleluia had been freed, but he had needed to rush the process when a second impact had shook the building. When the data on Alleluia had reached them , it had included a very familiar face.<p>

He wasn't sure why he wanted to save her. It wasn't romantic. A part of him, objectively, the part of him who had been trained to infiltrate a society could tell that she was beautiful. But that wasn't it, he was sure.

What was it?

His internal reverie was stopped as he heard a hail of gunfire. He immediately ducked behind a hallway, hiding from sight when he heard voices on up ahead.

"Seriously Quatre, you let them really work you over.".

"I wasn't exactly letting them Wufei." There was pain in the tone.

"You chose to stay instead of running, you can't deny that your own choice got you into this mess, and we've had to come to get you out of it."

Setsuna tentatively peered around the corner, seeing a small group of people in irregular clothing and weapons, very clearly not ESF. One of them even carried a _sword_ of all things, while another blonde and beaten man on the floor, a black eye only starting to fade away from being swollen completely shut. The wounded man's head turned in Setsuna's direction, drawing the attention of the others. Setsuna could hear the hammers on their rifles immediately cock and he dove behind the wall as a hail of gunfire was sent his way.

"Cease fire you idiots!" Confused, Setsuna peeked back, realizing that the asian man with a sword was the one who had been speaking before, and was in charge. "Can't you tell he's one of the Meisters?"

"Yeah…" the wounded man began, "But what's he doing here?" The man on the ground blinked for a moment as a slow smile began to crawl over his face. "Oh…I see. It seems you were right Wufei. I didn't need to try to protect her after all." The blonde turned back into Setsuna's direction, calling out. "She's down this hallway. You'll have to hurry, we'll be pulling out soon. You won't have much time to get away."

Setsuna simply glared at the group, but made no move to take action.

The blonde chuckled. "He's just like Heero."

"Wefei" snorted. "Did we really need another? Come on, I saw where the impact site where Sandrock landed." The group began to withdraw, the sound of rifle shots following them down the hallway, leaving Setsuna thoroughly confused. But they were clearing a path for him and he had an advantage to exploit. He would get no better chance than this. And yet…

_Who were they? Why would they help me?_

* * *

><p>Alleujah did his best to run, his heart pounding in his chest, but failed utterly. His muscles ached after years of inactivity, and he found himself limping down the hallway. He followed the pathway to the crater he saw from rounding the corner. Setsuna had mentioned a new machine they had prepared for him. He stumbled, leaning against the last corner, panting for breath. Gasping for air, he looked up at his new machine.<p>

Soma crouched, hiding around the corner. She had tracked the gold and white machine that seemed to be a carbon copy of the one that Subject E-0057 had formerly piloted. Her backup was currently pinned down by Katharon forces. Colonel Smirnov's son had told her to go on ahead. Being invaded was bad enough, but letting a Gundam Meister free would be a failure too great to ignore. She heard footsteps approaching and tensed, getting her sidearm ready. The footsteps stopped.

_One set. He's alone._

Soma rounded the corner, leveling his pistol. "Freeze! Get down Subject E-0057!"

A man who was clearly _not_ E-0057 looked back at her, a horrified expression on his face.

"You have to stop now." The man replied, his eyes growing wide. "Run. Things are about to get bad."

* * *

><p>Allelujah crawled into the cockpit, hitting the switch to shut the door. While the machine was completely different from the Kyrios, the cockpit had clearly been designed with the Third Generation of Gundams in mind. It was considerably blockier, and really contrary to his personal style, but in this case beggars couldn't be choosers. With the hatch fully closed, the boot screen began to load, the O.S. coming online.<p>

**GNG-04 Sandrock Ifrit**

**…**

**…**

**ZERO System Status: Online**


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: OK, this chapter is a bit on the shorter side and, to be honest, only the very end was something that I was originally planned when I sketched out the plot. The rest kind of was be pouring things out of my head freeform and cleaning them back up later, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I know it's passé to ask for reviews, but I would rather like to hear how people liked it.

* * *

><p>"What are you talking about? Where is E-0057?" Soma yelled at the man she currently held at gunpoint. "This is his machine, isn't it?"<p>

"It is." The man replied, a very dour expression in his face. "We were careless. We didn't assume that both parties would be deploying our machines the same way. And because of that, everyone on the battlefield is in grave danger."

"_You're not making any sense!"_ Soma shouted, bringing the barrel of her gun against the man's head. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you where you stand?"

The only warning that Soma received was a slight scuffing on the floor, and then something very sharp nicking through her uniform and pressing against her back.

"Perhaps this will do for a reason. Don't turn around. A woman like you should have known better than to come alone." There was a new voice this time. She had been so focused on taking on E-0057 that she hadn't been concerned with the possibility of reinforcements.

"_Stupid. Careless. Soft. It's what you get for pretending. Pretending to be a daughter. Pretending to be human."_

"You won't be able to kill me in time. Not fast enough to stop me from pulling the trigger. If I die, your friend dies as well." "_Keep stalling. We have the advantage of time. Every second I wait is another for backup to arrive. "_

There was a dismissive snort from the man behind her. "Believe me, that's the only reason you're still alive."

"Come now, this is unnecessary." The blonde began. "And we don't have time for this."

Soma turned back to him, meeting his eyes and _**regret and sorrow**__. :"Why couldn't I save them, why couldn't I think of a different way?":_

_:"What_.": The words were there, and clear and as plain as day, and they had the same tone as the man who was standing in front of her at that very moment, but the man hadn't spoken a word. They simply were in her head. _ :"You? What did you do?":_

The blonde seemed to try his hardest to sounds sheepish_. :"I honestly don't know. I've always been able to read people better than most. But this is something else entirely.":_

Which was a fine response, except that it wasn't in words. Words diminished truth, hid it, added a layer of lies onto an experience and no such filter existed now. It was knowledge without language, understanding without a single word or image passing other than what as spurred in her mind by raw emotion.

_:"And why shouldn't I think of you as any other?": __**Suspicion, doubt, betrayal**__. _Thoughts, feelings, conveyed quicker than words could be formed, the echoes of her emotions resonating with her as they left with thoughts.

_:"Because if you don't, people are going to die. People who would otherwise have been safe.":_

_:"Then you shouldn't have attacked! You shouldn't have tried to kill people to change the world!": __**Righteous indignation.**_

_:"It's something we all choose. We have to decide whether the pain we cause is worth what we get. But that's __not__ what he'll look for. He'll look for total victory.":_

"_I don't understand." Marie's thoughts(who is Marie?) swirl, taking a memory. She sees a colony (but there's no such thing as a colony) and she's drifting away. She's watching as every single weapon is pointed at a defenseless resource satellite. She knows her father is on it. She watches, unable to do a single thing as they open fire. She screams, begs, pleads for them to stop, makes promises to God that she would do anything, anything at all to stop this, to wind back the clock one more day, for one more hour. She can imagine in her mind's eye as her father is ripped apart because he was too stubborn, because he had to do the right thing. She feels her last ties from family pruned away. The last blossoms of humanity withering on the vine. And suddenly, Soma Pieres knows what total victory will mean to such a person. What she would do if her Colonel was killed in such a fashion._

She can feel the gun go slack in his hand, and her body begin to drop. She is vaguely aware that the man in front of her has done the same.

"Quatre!" The voice behind her is now a shout, the weapon at her back forgotten as he drops to deal with his distraught comrade. "Quatre!"

Soma Peries' eyes haze for a moment, and the next thing she sees is black.

* * *

><p>Allelujah gripped the sticks of his new machine. He was honestly shocked and surprised as to how well the blocky thing handled, especially when it came to dodging he incoming fire of the Ahead squadrons as they advanced. The heavy plating of GN composite might have slowed the machine's vertical line speed, but it was surprisingly nimble, and the extra bulk prevented serious hits from being truly effective in a way that simply wasn't possible with the Kyrios.<p>

The enemy had begun to drop clouds of smoke, a layer of gas that obscured the immediate vision of his visual sensors. But that _didn't matter_. A pair of heavy, solid state blades were pulled from the shoulders of the machine. "_Those machines will follow me into the fog, and press their advantage with the lances_."

Allelujah brought up the blade in time, parrying the attack of the first incoming machine, using the sheer bulk of his weapon to redirect the Ahead into the path of its comrade, sending them both sprawling. A moment later he brought up the second, using the additional momentum to bisect the next machine. Those machines were probably built to be a high speed machine that could negate Celestial Being's advantage in beam technology, using a solid lance to puncture their opponents in close range. The only real question was, "_How did I know that?"_

Allelujah could see the Ahead coming and could see the pair he had sent spinning moments before recovering and the next wave attacking from the top to try to cut him off and the barrage of GN missiles coming from the capital ships and the wind currents carrying the cloud of anti-beam gas and the ground forces and the next round of shock and awe and the body is a slow wet mechanism of muscle and bone that creeps as your mind races, tells you what you already knew. He had a full 1.78 seconds until the next shot would be fired from the machine coming in at 2 o'clock high. A supercomputer can do over a trillion mathematical equations in one second, and to that machine that second is an eternity.

"_Never mind the enemy mobile suit, you're fighting gravity which affect the imcoming missiles, which further will have tail drag from curving in the atmorsphere, but not the beams, and never mind that I'm flying over a thin cool crust of a gigantic ball of molten rock hurtling though frozen space, spinning in another direction over me, affecting the positioning of shots that reach me before I can ever hear the sonic boom and OH GOD WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY BRAIN? I'll run back to the guards, beg for forgiveness, tell them to lobotomize me, to set this damn machine at ground zero of a weapons test, to liquefy anything I've ever touched…and…and…"_

A slow grin spread over E-0057's face. The pilot brushed the hair out from over his mismatched eyes, making sure that both were unimpaired. "You always were good at handling all that logical stuff!" A smirk came over the supersoldier's face. "I've been sleeping for four fucking years. It's time to get out and play a little." He gripped the controls a little tighter, quickly thumbing through the weapon controls. "You pussies want to stay in the fog and fight? Fine! Come get some! GET SOOOOOOOME!"

* * *

><p>"Heero, we have a problem!"<p>

Heero ducked an incoming swipe from an enemy unit, the feather Fang immediately behind him which he had set as a trap firing into the Ahead at point blank range a second later. He had always been talented with the Planetary Defensors, and the OS on the Fangs was far superior. The Wing Zero Seraphim relied heavily on speed, maneuverability and the traditional shield, but other than that it was rather lightly armored, appearing spindly compared to the Deathscythe Samael, not to mention the Ifit. However, the machine fit Heero's old fighting style, and with the ZERO system he could manage better than before. Well, in combat matters.

With some annoyance, Heero keyed the video call for him, giving him a quick shot of Wufei's scowling face.

"This really isn't a good time Wufei. The mission objective is almost complete. Quatre's extraction been accomplished, and the heavy anti-beam gas they've been deploying ought to give us our escape route. Why aren't you with your Katharon squad." Heero's eyes narrowed as he took a more careful look at the background behind his fellow pilot. "And what are you doing in a mobile suit."

Wufei let out a derisive snort. "Because someone had to take Celestial Being's new toy. They took Quatre's."

Heero blinked for a moment, clarity coming almost immediately. He turned to watch the Ifrit rush headlong into another pack of Ahead, its heavy curved blades flashing as they charged. "So, where is Quatre now?"

"I have him here."

"Good." Heero responded curtly. "Withdraw immediately the rendezvous point we planned for everyone else. We'll need to alter our plans and get you back later."

Wufei nodded. "What about the other one?"

Heero took stock of the battlefield. Cover fire from a sniper had continued to bombard the scene, even if its effectiveness was now being reduced by the anti-beam gas. The other two Celestial Being machines were no longer pinned down, having accomplished their mission as well.

"He won't stop, not until he _is_ stopped. You know that Heero." Wufei reminded him. Once the ZERO system began, you continued until complete victory was achieved, or you weren't able to fight any longer.

"That man…" Heero narrowed his eyes, brow furrowing in thought. "They said he had been confined to a straight-jacket for four years? How would your body hold out after that long?"

* * *

><p>Every moment was perfect. He was <em>free.<em> All he had to do was to think about whoever missed him off most, and the perfect solution presented itself. Hallelujah felt his hand tremble, obviously from excitement! Here he as, finally out again, alive of all things. He had been certain that he had breathed his last but it seemed his old buddy and pal still needed him.

"Allelujah? Is that you? Withdraw at once! We're done here." The voice sounded familiar, but it still took a moment for him to place it.

"Tieria! You still have that stick up your ass! But you got it wrong on both counts. We're not done here…" The metal of his swords rang as he lined it up, ready to stab through that heavy armor. The huge ass sword could go through that stupid GN Field no problem. The danger was only just beginning to dawn on Tieria as he tried to reach an escape vector, but that stupid old clunker was still too damn **slow. **"It's Halleujah!"

From out of nowhere, Setsuna intervened, blades crossing in an 'X' shaped patter to catch the heavier weapon. A second later the blades were broken apart, twisting the larger and heavier blade out of his grasp.

"Yare, yare…" Came another familiar voice. "I thought he was a comrade. He just looks like some psycho."

This voice again took a moment to process. But…there was no way. Something buried in Hallelujah's logic was screaming at the sheer wrongness of it. The impossibility of such a scenario that made it feel like he was being stabbed in the gut. He could feel himself suddenly frozen by indecision and, in that moment, winning didn't matter anymore. He had to _know._

"Lock…on?" The adrenaline suddenly faded from his system and Alleujah was suddenly aware about how his muscles ached and burned, how his eye was twitching and that the shaking in his hands from a moment ago had returned, and was running across his whole arm. He was tired…so very, very tired. The corners of his vision began to turn black as he felt his body slacken, and fall against the cockpit. He could hear a startled cry, but couldn't care any more as to who it was, or what it meant.

Kati Mannequin watched solemnly as the Gundams collected one of their strange new friends and began to escort it out of the battlefield.

* * *

><p>"Colonel Manequin, they're getting away!" Patrick called. "Permission to sortie?"<p>

"Permission denied." She replied bluntly, adjusting her glasses.

"But Colonel-"

"If we pursue, we lose any hope of cover fire from the base. We're down to less than 20% of our anti-beam canisters, which we began deploying en masse when we realized what firepower they were capable of and our Ahead forces have taken devastating losses. Lieutenant Coulasour, what would happen if we engage them over open water with the Celestial Being flagship and that machine?"

"We take…" Patrick seemed to ponder the question for a moment. "Devastating losses?"

Kati nodded in agreement. "We lost today. We don't have to like it. That doesn't mean that we go out of our way to make sure that we lose the next battle as well." The tactical forecaster bridged her fingers, apparently in thought. "There is much we need to take into account for the future.

* * *

><p>AN #2: Alright, I have to give serious mention to John Dies at The End, which more than perfectly summed up how I would imagine what I could possibly imagine what it would be like to experience the ZERO system to its full, to have a human brain converted into a pure supercomputer. (Seriously, buy/read/watch the movie) Every single one of the characters in Wing which tried the system had horrible initial results, and I wanted to try to imagine what it would feel like to attempt to process all of those thoughts at once. Handing it off to a character who's primary personality is rational planning, with a secondary, protective personality based on pure emotion…well, it was simply too much fun to ignore. Describing emotions in words was stolen from Patrick Rothus from Wise Man's Fears.


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